Natalie in Makai
by Tara Rocker
Summary: When Natalie accedently discovers Makai while fallowing Kurama aka Suichi Minamino, she finds herself facing a world and chalenges she never thought were possible!
1. Chapter 1

_The sound of happy chatter filled the air as the students of a local high school began to leave for their homes. The sun was high in the brilliant blue sky as cloud gently floated about. Kurama, who was known as Suichi Minamino to his class mates and other human acquaintances, walked down the street unaware that he was being fallowed by a human girl. _

"Bloody bastards deaf…" Natalie muttered as she pushed her way though the crowd, "Suichi will you wait!"

Natalie Bishop, an American foreign exchange student, was a small pale girl with short black hair that ran along her jaw line and ice blue eyes. She sighed as she brushed her straight hair out of her face.

"Suichi! You dropped your book!" She called again to the unhearing red head.

Natalie growled as she clamped the thin book in her mouth and riffled through her school bag for her head band. She slid the red band across her bangs and on to her head. Natalie watched Kurama turn the corner as she pulled the book out of her mouth,

"This is what I get for trying to be nice."

Natalie ran passed the crowd and slid to a stop at the corner Kurama had turned. Expecting Kurama to be around the corner Natalie kept running, only she didn't see Kurama. Instead she accidentally ran head first into a blue swirling portal. Natalie's eyes widened as she felt a swirling, numbing sensation surround her; her eyes shut tight as her mouth opened in a muted scream. Only when she felt the hard firmness of the ground did she open her eyes. Slowly, Natalie's eyes focused on her surroundings.

A blood red sky hung over her, the land smelt of blood and death; everything around her seemed to be dead. Natalie shivered as a mixed feeling of paranoia, fear, and loneliness swept over her.

"Where the hell am I?" She asked aloud.

A bush rustled behind her, making her jump. The human girl turned to see a small creature with several violet eyes staring at her.

"Nice thing…" The human tried to coo.

The creature opened its mouth in a low hiss. Green slime oozed from the large fangs as the creature began to step forward.

Natalie stepped back as she felt her body shiver. Without warning the creature lunged at her, mouth opened wide as the pale yellow fangs gleamed.

The human girls scream rang through the air.

"Did you hear that?" Kurama asked as he turned toward the sound.

"That sounded like a human scream." Hiei replied, "I thought you said that spirit detective was going to maze castle."

"He is. But that was a human _girl's_ scream." Kurama said as he scanned the horizon.

"Do you suppose he was dumb enough to bring a girl with him?" asked Hiei

"No." Kurama answered as he began to wander towards the screams origin.

"Where are you going?" Hiei growled, "I thought we were supposed to 'help Yusuke' and we would be rid of that stupid charge from spirit world."

"We are, but I need to make sure another human didn't come into the portal before it closed." Kurama answered over his shoulder as he continued to walk.

"Do what you wish." Hiei said, "I'm not here to baby-sit."

"Have it your way." Kurama replied.

Something about Kurama's tone seemed to nag Hiei.

"If we get some kind of sentence from spirit world for this I'm holding you responsible." The fire apparition growled.

"Thank you." Kurama said, referring to Hiei's help.

When the two demons found the human girl the first thing they noticed was the small unconscious demon on the ground.

"Natalie?" Kurama starred at the American girl in her ripped up school uniform.

She looked over at him.

"There you are!" Natalie growled, "Do you know what I went through just to give you your stupid book back!"

Natalie slammed the book to his chest as she went on, "Honestly! I decided I'd be nice and save you from having one of your giddy little fan girls take it to your house and bug you to no end. But no, _you_ mister deaf decide to keep on walking while I fallow you- screaming my lungs out- and you come to this… _place _where I get attacked by god know what that thing is!"

Natalie was breathing heavily from her shouting as she lowered her finger that had been pointing at the small demon.

"Oh, um… thank you?" Kurama felt confused at why she would even offer to bring him his book; he didn't even know her very well.

Natalie ran her hand down her face as she groaned, "This is what I get for trying to be nice to one of the popular kids…"

"Did you honestly knock that demon unconscious?" Hiei asked as he looked at the demon

"So what..?" Natalie growled, "I'm out of here. If there's one way here there's got to be a way back."

Kurama stepped in front of Natalie before she could walk away,

"Natalie, we're in the demon world, you can't just wander around. It's too dangerous for humans."

"Gee, thanks for the advise Suichi, but I think I already learned that!" Natalie slowly realized what Kurama had said, "What do you mean demon world?"

"That detective should be here by now." Hiei stated, "So Kurama, the human know you as Suichi?"

"What do you mean?" Natalie asked as she turned to Hiei.

"I'll explain later Natalie; it's too dangerous for you here." Kurama explained.

"Damn right you'll explain." She growled.

"Hiei," Kurama said, "Will you take Natalie back to the human world?"

"Why should I be the one to take your human friend back?" Hiei eyed the red head.

"Because you're faster than I am and I cannot create a portal to the human world."

"Fine..." Hiei grunted as he threw Natalie onto his shoulder.

"Put me down!" Natalie exclaimed as she began to slam her fists onto his back.

The next thing Natalie knew, she was in the human world again. Hiei dropped her where he stood.

"Next time I won't be so tolerant." He warned.

"See if I care." Natalie spat.

"Humans are so annoying." Natalie heard Hiei mutter before he left.

"Now I remember why I never helped the popular kids." Natalie grumbled as she brushed herself off.

Natalie was walking up the stairs to her apartment when she notice people were starting to act weird. Every one seemed to have a blue town to their skin.

"That's odd." Natalie muttered as she unlocked the door.

She walked into the small, one room apartment and dropped her bag by the door. Natalie walked into her room as she began to peel off her ripped uniform.

"Well this will be lovely to explain." She said to herself as she rummaged through her drawer, "I can se it now, 'oh teacher I'm sorry I don't have my uniform, I was attacked by a creature with little eyes and my uniform got ripped up while I was defending myself.' Oh yea, they'll believe that."

Natalie slipped a pair of shorts on and had begun to open her drawer when she felt something crawling up her neck and towards her ear.

"Yuck!" She exclaimed as she smacked it off her neck.

She looked at the long brown, winged bug.

"What the-"

A loud banging noise made her jump.

"What now?" She groaned as she picked up a base ball bat.

Wandering around in her living room were three men. Natalie gripped the bat as she mad her way to sneak up behind them. Unfortunately for her, one of the men saw her. He groaned and the closest one grabbed her and threw her across the room.

"What the hell?" Natalie shouted as she picked herself up, "First I'm taken to a demon world, then I'm attacked by a demon, and now I'm being attacked by guys I don't even know!"

Natalie ran passed the men and into her room. She frantically looked around for anything heavy. She grabbed the lamp from off of her desk as one of the men came up behind her.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to knock bozo?" She shouted as she slammed the glass lamp against the side of the man's face.

He hit the floor with a loud thud as the other two came into the room bearing their teeth at Natalie.

"Come on then!" Natalie growled as she jumped onto her bed.

Both men rushed forward at the girl. Natalie's eyes flashed with a certain fire as she jumped and used one of the men's faces as a spring board then kicked the second mans neck.

Only one man was left standing as Natalie ran into the living room once more. Her heart was pounding as she waited for the last man to fallow her. Sure enough, the man charged down the hall and grabbed Natalie by her hair. Natalie yelped as the man slammed her into the wall. He hit her hard in the gut, making her cough up blood.

"Get away…" Natalie muttered as she tried to catch her breath.

The man hit her again and sent her flying across the room. Natalie suppressed a whimper as she tried to scurry away. The room seemed to spin as it shifted from focused to blurry. The man advanced, coming closer and closer to the young girl.

"Get away!" Natalie shouted, putting her hand up to block him.

A warm, tingling sensation formed in her palm as a burst of magenta colored light sent the man flying into the wall.

When the room stopped spinning and refocused Natalie sat up and looked at her hand.

"Did I just do that?" She asked aloud.


	2. Chapter 2

"Minamino…Minamino…." Natalie muttered as she looked through a phone book, "ugh! It's got to be in here somewhere. If Suichi thinks I'm going to forget what happened yesterday he isn't as smart as those ding-bat girls say he is."

The memories of Makai still remained as fresh in Natalie's memory as it did when the young man in black had dropped her on the street corner. Natalie was standing in a phone booth, looking through a thick phone book for the Minamino's address.

"Aha!" Natalie exclaimed in discovery.

There was a small tap on the glass of the booth. She turned to see an elderly woman with thick glasses that made her sagging eyes look as if they where bulging.

"Excuse me miss," The woman said in a shaking voice, "but I need to use the phone."

"Oh, sorry about that ma'am…" Natalie said before asking, "Hey, can you point me in the direction of Cherry Grove Street?"

"Oh of course darling, just walk down that street there," she pointed across the street, "and a bus will come that will stop at that street."

Natalie nodded and began to walk down the street.

"Creepy," Natalie muttered when she was out of ear shot of the woman, "some lady calls you darling when she doesn't even know who the hell you are…"

Natalie walked down the street, the hot sun blazing in the blue, cloudless sky, for an hour with yet to see any sign of a bus stop.

"How far is that dang thing?" she asked herself.

She continued to walk until she saw a street sign which read "Cherry Grove ST".

"Oh yea," Natalie muttered, "some bus stop lady."

Natalie walked down a street that seemed to be lined with trees and lawns that were covered with lush green grass. The houses seemed so nice in this neighborhood. She looked around the street in hopes of seeing Suichi outside of his house. Sure enough, he was sitting outside under a large oak tree with the black haired boy from the day before.

"Suichi..!" Natalie called as she began to walk up to him.

"Good afternoon Natalie-chan." Kurama greeted.

"Don't Natalie-chan me Minamino." Natalie said in an irritable tone as stood in front of the two boys, "you said you'd explain what all that stuff was yesterday."

"Stuff..?" Kurama said with a questioning look.

"Yeah, that weird creature attacking me, this guy," she pointed at Hiei, "dropping me flat on my ass on a street corner after taking me away from where ever the hell that place was."

"So you do remember," Kurama sighed.

"Damn right I remember," Natalie growled, "after I got home I was attacked by three guys that were acting like zombies."

"Did they have a blue tint to their skin?" Kurama asked

"Yeah..." Natalie said as she recalled the incident in her apartment, "They tried attacking me; I practically trashed my place trying to fight them."

"I'm surprised the insects didn't affect her." Hiei finally spoke up.

"Insects..?" Natalie had a confused look on her face, "what do bugs have to do with the town reenacting some zombie flick?"

"They weren't acting." Kurama said, "You may want to sit down, this could take a while to explain."

The red head got up, offering his seat, but Natalie simply sat down where she had stood.

"The insects Hiei was referring too," Kurama continued, "were the Makai insects."

"What..?" Natalie looked at him.

"Makai insects," Kurama repeated, "they burrow inside your ear and posses you. The Makai whistle is what was controlling them."

"Okay…" Natalie said, "So that means those guys that attacked me were being controlled by bugs that were being controlled by some whistle?"

"Yes." Kurama nodded, "Any more questions?"

"What was that place I landed?"

"Excuse me?" Kurama looked at her.

"That place," Natalie replied, "I fallowed you through some weird tunnel thing or whatever. The sky was red and I was attacked by that weird creature."

"Ah, that would be Makai." Kurama answered.

"Makai..?" Natalie looked at him with a confused look.

"It was the demon world." Kurama said, "And that creature was a demon."

"A weak one I'd say." Hiei added.

"No one asked your opinion." Natalie said, glaring at him.

"And no one asked to hear your annoying voice." Hiei said in a cold tone.

"Are you trying to start a fight?" Natalie barked.

The next thing Natalie knew, she was crouching with one hand in front of her and the palm of her free hand upside down, her forearm locked at her side, pointing at Hiei. The same warm, tingling sensation was in her palm again. Kurama and Hiei were both staring at her with disbelieving looks on their faces.

"What?" Natalie asked in a defensive tone.

"How…" Kurama began as he stared at the hot pink ball of energy in her hand.

Natalie glanced down at her hand and jumped, falling off balance, "How am I doing this!"

"Natalie," Kurama said in a serious tone, "Are you aware of something called spirit energy?"

Natalie, who had been staring at her hand, looked up at him, "Spirit what?"

"Let's go inside," Kurama suggested, "It's getting hotter outside, it will be more comfortable in my room."

"Pervert!" Natalie snapped, jumping to her feet.

"I don't mean it in that kind of way!" Kurama exclaimed.

"Well how the hell did you mean it then?" The human girl growled.

"I mean my mother is inside and she doesn't know about any of this, so we'll have privacy in my room."

Natalie watched Hiei jump in to a tree as a feeling of awkwardness washed over her.

"Mother," Kurama called through the house, "I will be in my room with a friend."

"Oh?" The human woman looked out from the kitchen, "Hello there…"

"Um… How'd you do?" Natalie said with a small bow.

Kurama's mother smiled and went back into the kitchen as Kurama lead Natalie up the stairs. Once in the red heads room, Natalie noticed Hiei was already on the window ceil.

"Alright," Kurama said, sitting on the chair next to his desk, "Spirit energy is a form of control you have on your own energy."

"Uh-huh…" Natalie leaned against the wall, crossing her arms, "Two questions Suichi."

"Yes?"

"How do you know this, and how do I know you aren't making this up?"

Kurama looked at Hiei for a moment. Hiei looked back. In Natalie's eyes it seemed as if the two boys were mentally talking to each other on whether or not they wanted to tell her.

"Can you keep a secret?" Kurama finally asked

"Sure..." Natalie said as a curious look spread across her face.

"Hiei and I are demons from Makai. We know about spirit energy because we ourselves have different forms of it and we recently helped to spirit detective's defeat the four saint beasts." Kurama began.

"Are you serious?" Natalie laughed, "_You_, perfect Shuichi Minamino, a _demon_?"

"My real name is Kurama." He said, ignore Hiei's annoyed grunt.

"So then 'Kurama' why are you here on earth?"

Kurama explained how he found his way to the human world and how he and Hiei had gotten involved with the spirit world.

"You really are serious," Natalie said, "Aren't you?"

Kurama nodded while Hiei just stared out the window.

"So…. Would I be considered a demon since I can use spirit energy?" Natalie asked.

"No you fool." Hiei said, looking at her.

"Okay then demon boy," Natalie said in a cool tone, "Show me the difference then."

"Natalie…" Kurama began, but it was too late.

Natalie felt a small chill around herself as Hiei's pale skin began to turn green. He threw his black cloak off, revealing several opening eyes along his chest and arms. For a moment, Natalie merely stared.

The next moment Hiei had trapped the human girl against the wall, his hands blocking her from moving left or right.

"Do you comprehend the difference now?" Hiei asked.

"Am I supposed to be scarred?" Natalie asked, looking Hiei straight in the eyes.

Hiei seemed taken aback by this comment for a moment. To Kurama's surprise, a small chuckle passed Hiei's lips.

"This girl has a lot of brass." Hiei said as he walked back to the window, grabbing his cloak.

Kurama opened his mouth, but was interrupted by a high pitched beeping from his clock.

"Oh my," He said, "It's already seven thirty."

"I should get home." Natalie said as she opened the door. "I have some more questions though, drop by my place tomorrow."

Natalie wrote her address on a piece of paper on Kurama's desk.

"Alright, I'll come by tomorrow." Kurama said.

Natalie nodded, "See you boys later."


	3. Chapter 3

---

Soon a week had passed and within this week, the two demon boys and the human girl had developed a fondness towards each other.

Hiei, the fire demon known for his coldness, at first had said he was coming because he was "merely interested in Natalie's sudden ability," but had found himself warming up to her boldness. For as long as he could remember, he had never met a girl like her, a girl that was so…. He wasn't sure how to put it, and these new emotions began to confuse him. Natalie had won his favor so fast, and after the way they got along when they first met, none of them ever expected him to open up to her quite this fast. _She's so easy to talk to..._, Hiei found himself thinking, _why is it I find myself saying the first blasted thing that comes into my mind? I even told her about Yukina_...Hiei sighed in aggravation.

"Are you okay?" Natalie asked, looking at the boy leaning against the balcony window.

"Hn..? Fine…" Hiei grunted.

"You know Natalie," Kurama said, "You've really made a lot of improvement over the week."

The fox demon in disguise was referring to the training he and Hiei had started with her the day after he had explained spirit energy to her. At first, Kurama had been unsure of meeting with her on a daily basis, but in a short amount of time, he found himself enjoying her company and regretting having to leave. _She can be so sweet sometimes_, Kurama thought as he took a cookie from the plate sitting on the coffee table.

"You really think so?" The girl asked as she walked from the kitchen to the living room.

She handed a glass of tea to Kurama and one to Hiei. _This is so… Strange, yet it's amazing,_ Natalie thought, sitting on the floor, _I never even dreamed that I could do things like this. _The memory of using and creating that hot pink ball of energy swam through her mind. Her finger tips tingled at the memory; Natalie smiled to herself as she sat in front of the two boys she had grown attached to. Natalie, though she hated to admit it, was never a sociable person. She had grown up in a decent size family, in a middle class neighbor hood, of a small town in America. As long as she could remember she had been surrounded by people, and she hated it. Being so far away from her family felt good to her, although it was lonely at times; but then she had met the two demon boys and everything seemed to change. She was no longer the lonely exchange student at school; instead she was known as 'Shuichi Minamino's friend' and was sometimes loathed by the fan girls Kurama had developed. Natalie didn't mind though, in fact, she found it almost amusing.

"Indeed…" Hiei blurted out without thinking.

"You have." Kurama smiled.

Natalie opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the sound of her door bell.

"Just a sec…" Natalie said, brushing her black hair out of her face as she got up.

She walked across the cream carpet to the metallic door and opened the door, "Konichiwa—"

"Surprise!" A mix chorus of five voices cheered.

"Mother! Father!" Natalie jumped back in shock.

"What about us?" A grouchy aged voice asked.

"Oh…Grandpa… and Billy… Sandra too…" Natalie's voice grew less and less thrilled as her family filed into her apartment.

"What are these boys doing here!" Her father barked when his eyes fell upon Hiei and Kurama.

Natalie felt herself shrink as she watched her family roam around her apartment. Mrs. Bishop was a tall thin woman with long flowing blonde hair that fell across her slender shoulders, her blue eyes scanned the hallway as she looked for Natalie's room. Mr. Bishop, a large burly man with curling black hair and ice blue eyes that seemed so intimidating had began interrogating Kurama as his father, who every one---related or not---called Grandpa began to scrounge around the kitchen. Billy, a ten year old version of Mr. Bishop had began whooping and howling with laughter as he ran through the house, knocking any and every thing in his path down. Natalie felt herself shrink even smaller as she watched her beautiful blonde sister, Sandra, try to talk to Hiei.

As long as Natalie could remember she had always been her sisters lesser. In Natalie's eyes Sandra was a perfect blue eyed girl who was not short, but not too tall, who had perfect curling blonde hair that fell down to her waist. Sandra even seemed to have a "perfect" body. Natalie had always heard everyone commenting on how beautiful and extraordinary her sister was, even when Natalie would do something extraordinary herself, it never seemed good enough because her sister had already done it. In America, every boy Natalie had like never liked her--it was always her sister they liked; that was another reason she was glad to be so far away from America.

Kurama had seen the look in Natalie's eyes. The look of deep hurting, but the attempt of refusing to show it; he recognized that look without any doubt. Hiei noticed it too. The two demons glanced at each other after watching Natalie exit the room.

"Natalie, how could you keep your room like this?" Mrs. Bishop's angry voice carried through the air.

"Natalie how can you eat this junk? My arteries will clog if I eat this! Are you trying to kill me?" Grandpa snapped from the kitchen.

"Natty's in trouble, Natty's in trouble!" Billy chirped as he bounced on the sofa.

"So," Sandra said as she leaned closer to Hiei, "do you like my shirt?"

"What the hell are you doing having boys over?" Mr. Bishop bellowed when Natalie reentered the room.

Natalie's hair shaded her eyes. She was glad of that; she didn't want to have her new friends see her crying. Natalie tried taking deep, even breaths as she blinked her tears away. The mix of voices seemed to swim around her as she tried to keep her composure. The human girl's body soon began to shake with anger as her family continued to rant.

"-I just bought you that lamp and now it's broken-"

"-How could you try to kill me, what did I do to you?-"

"-Natty's going to get a punishment-"

"-Come on cutie, are you shy?-"

"-Don't come crying to me if you get knocked up!"

She couldn't take it anymore. Natalie felt herself beginning to break down. A strange feeling seemed to pull at her gut as she felt the familiar tingling reach her hands. She clutched her fists tight, refusing to let her family know her secret.

"STOP IT!" Natalie screamed, "Just… stop it…"

The room fell silent as every eye fell to the human girl that had fallen to her knees. A single tear fell down her cheek as she shook violently.

"Natalie!" the two demons exclaimed, running to her side.

"Just… leave. Every one… just leave me alone." Natalie sobbed.

"Shh…" Kurama cooed as he picked her up.

"Unhand my daughter you—"

"You what…?" Hiei asked. Stepping in front of Mr. Bishop, "I don't know what you… _people_ see in 'families', but from what I've seen, all you do is tare down you young."

"How dare you!" Mrs. Bishop exclaimed.

"How dare we?" Kurama questioned as he turned to the woman with the sobbing girl in his arms, "I would say, how dare you. You barge into your daughters' home and are not even here for five minutes before you begin to tell her what she's doing wrong. You said 'surprise' when you first came here, so I'll assume it's safe to say you came here all the way from America."

"Yes, well—"

"Well it seems like a hell of a long distance to travel just to contradict your daughter." Hiei said, turning on the woman.

The Bishop family was taken aback by the two boys' protectiveness and was unsure of how to answer.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm taking Natalie-chan to her room to rest." Kurama said in a cool tone as he walked into the hall.

After the Bishop's left, the two demons stayed by Natalie's side. Natalie, ashamed of braking down in front of them, had buried herself under the covers of her bed, wishing she could hide from the world. In the corner of her mind, she could not comprehend why two guys like Kurama and Hiei would even stay with her in the first place. It was there and then that she had wished she could be with them for as long as she could, even though the fear of losing them gripped tightly around her heart.


	4. Chapter 4

1:38 AM burned the red figures on the clock that hung on her wall. Natalie groaned and rubbed her eyes. _Great, I cried so friggen much I fell asleep… _Natalie thought as she rolled out of bed and onto something hard and warm. The human jumped and so did the unknown object.

"What are you doing? Get off me." grunted a fatigued voice.

"Hiei..?" Natalie muttered.

The room suddenly lit up, making both bodies on the floor wince. Natalie looked quickly around her surroundings and saw that saw was indeed in her room still, but both the demon boys were still there. Hiei growled and glared at Kurama with a deep loathing look. _Damn fox…_Hiei thought, _is he trying to blind us?_ Kurama blinked sleepily at them.

"What happened?" Kurama yawned.

"She's up…" Hiei growled as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"So I noticed." replied Kurama as he rubbed his eyes.

"What on earth are you guys doing here?" Natalie asked, "It's nearly two in the morning."

"We wanted to make sure you were alright." Kurama said.

"Won't your mom get worried Kurama?" asked Natalie through a yawn.

"I told her I was spending the night at a friend's house."

Natalie chucked, "So the great 'Suichi Minamino' _does_ fib."

"Natalie…" Kurama groaned.

"Alright, alright…"

Natalie yawned as fatigue took over and she fell fast asleep once more. She had fallen asleep so fast that the boys had wondered if she had passed out.

"Natalie—" Hiei began, but stopped when she fell against him.

Hiei felt his heart skipping beats as he felt Natalie's head fall against his lap. He inhaled a breath of air quickly as he felt his blood suddenly rushing through his veins. _Th-thmp__ th-thmp th-thmp_… went the fire apparition's heart.

"Get her off!" Hiei barked at Kurama.

"Poor girl…" Kurama muttered as he picked her up.

"'Poor girl'..?" Hiei repeated, staring at Kurama in irritation.

"She seems to be emotionally exhausted." Kurama replied as he pulled the covers back over Natalie.

Hiei merely grunted as he lay back on the floor once more. _Why am I letting her get to me? _He mentally asked himself, _Why am I even here? If she had been any one else I would have left without looking back by now! So why is she different from every one else?_ Hiei ignored Kurama's "good night" and rolled over as the room was engulfed in darkness. _How is she different from any other woman I've met?_ Hiei asked himself, but with more questions he concluded less answers and slowly began to confuse himself.

Kurama heaved a heavy sigh as he leaned against the door he shut behind himself and looked up to the ceiling as if he expected to find the answer to his thoughts. _Why am I letting myself get attached to her?_ Kurama sighed, _What if the same thing happens to Natalie that happened to Maya? When I thought Eight Hands had eaten Maya…I just…I couldn't bear it if that were to happen to Natalie._ A single tear ran down Kurama's cheek. _Why am I getting so worked up about this? Natalie isn't anything like Maya, and her control over her spirit energy is developing so fast… I'm sure she would be able to join Yusuke and Kuwabara before the next week is even over…_Kurama walked back to the living room and fell onto the couch. _Why am I getting so worried? Natalie could take care of herself…right?_

_---_

Sunlight streamed into Natalie's bed room and fell across her face. The black haired girl groaned and rolled over, putting her pillow over her head. She heard someone else groan next to her and instantly shot up from her bed.

"What?" Hiei groggily asked from the floor as he looked at her.

"Y-you stayed the night?" Natalie asked in a confused tone.

"Yes, you fell on top of me a few hours ago, remember?" Hiei said, staring at her.

Natalie merely stared blankly at Hiei, wondering what he was talking about.

"Breakfast is ready." Kurama said as he cracked the door open.

"Say what?" Natalie asked, looking at the door.

"I made breakfast." Kurama replied, poking his head in.

Natalie walked out to the small, cream colored kitchen and saw three plates piled with eggs, pancakes, and sausage. A plate of muffins was sitting in the center of the table and a tall glass of orange juice was in front of each plate. Kurama beamed as he watched the surprised look on Natalie's face turn to astonishment. Natalie's eye's scanned the table as she wondered how Kurama could fix all of this in such a short time.

"How…" Natalie trailed off

"I woke up early." Kurama smiled.

---

"We should do something for Natalie." Kurama said as he stared at the ceiling.

"Like what?" Hiei asked.

The two demon boys were sitting in Natalie's living room, waiting for her to get out of the shower. Night was falling across Tokyo as the boys contemplated. The idea of doing something for Natalie was something Kurama thought of as he had watched Natalie spar with Hiei earlier that afternoon. She had been improving so quickly, it was almost miraculous; he could tell when they spared as well.

"Hm… I'm not sure."

After a long, silent pause, Hiei spoke, "I think I have an idea."


	5. Chapter 5

Kurama stared at Hiei for a moment. Hiei smirked, "You're not the only one who knows about human girls."

"What do you mean, Hiei?" Kurama asked in a confused tone as his head tilted to the side.

Hiei stood up and walked out of the room for a minute, leaving Kurama even more confused. When he came back, Kurama saw him carrying a book with Natalie's name scribbled across it.

"H-Hiei, where did you get that?" Kurama asked, a nervous tone gripping his voice, as he got the feeling he knew what it was.

"I found it under Natalie's bed after she woke me up." Hiei said, "I couldn't get to sleep afterwards, that's when I saw it."

"Do you even know what that is?" Kurama asked, his nervousness growing.

"A book Natalie wrote in." Hiei answered blankly, "I wondered why she had a book under her bed so I picked it up and started flipping through it."

Kurama's jaw dropped slightly, his guess was right. It was Natalie's diary.

"Hiei you need to put that back!" Kurama hissed.

"Why?" Hiei asked, "It can tell us what we could do for her."

"That's a dairy Hiei!" spat Kurama.

"…What's a 'dairy'?" Hiei asked.

Kurama felt his legs collapse under him.   
Unknown to the two boys, Natalie had snuck out of the shower and into her room.

"Go put it back Hiei!" Kurama hissed.

"But—"

"No 'but'! Human girls can get really…" Kurama searched for the word, "testy, about their diary's; just go put it back before she finds out its gone!"

Hiei released an annoyed grunt as he walked back to Natalie's room. Kurama stood up and sighed in relief. _I'll have to explain about human girls belongings to Hiei_, Kurama thought. Before he could settle down about the diary event, Kurama heard Natalie scream. Without thinking, Kurama dashed into the hall way and to Natalie's room where he collided with a very red Hiei. Both demons crashed to the floor.

"Get out! Get out! Get out!" Natalie screamed, "Just cause I don't have locks on the door doesn't mean I'm giving peep shows!"

In confusion, Kurama looked up and saw a half naked Natalie, blushing like mad, and screaming at the boys. Both boys scurried to get up, but by the time they got up Natalie had began throwing things at them. Before the boys could get out of the way, Hiei had been hit in the head by a book and Kurama had been hit across the face by a shoe.

Hiei may not have known much about human girls, but he knew enough to know when it was time to get out of dodge; Kurama fallowed closely behind him, shutting the front door behind him.

---

"We're sorry Natalie." Kurama said through the front door.

Two hours had passed and the boys had gone and got something for Natalie to apologize. Kurama paid for Hiei's gift since Hiei didn't have any human money to speak of. So far the demons had been standing outside Natalie's door for twenty minutes trying to get her to let them back in. So far they had little luck.

Hiei leaned against the outside wall with a large box of chocolate candies in on hand and a small rabbit plushy in the other hand. From what he read in Natalie's diary she liked both things. Hiei felt a terrible pain in his heart, but he couldn't figure out why. _Why does she have to be so confusing?_ Hiei mentally asked himself. _How was I supposed to know she was getting dressed? I didn't even hear her get out of the bathroom._ Hiei sighed impatiently, _now she won't even open the door._

"Natalie…" Kurama began.

He sighed. Not only was he embarrassed about seeing Natalie half dressed, but he was sorry he embarrassed her and knew it. _I didn't mean to…_he mentally whimpered. _I'd do anything for her if it would mean she wouldn't get hurt. _

Natalie was leaned against her door, very confused. She felt mad at her friends for reading her diary, sad that she hit them, embarrassed they saw her without her pants on, and all around confused about why she was still upset when they had given her time to calm down. _They really did have no right reading my diary, _Natalie told herself, _but then again, they may not have realized it was my diary…But barging into my room to put it back when I was getting dress…. Well they didn't hear me get out of the shower. I shouldn't have hit them! What if they hate me for it? Or hold it against me? _

"Stand back," Natalie heard Hiei though the door.

Before she could react, Hiei kicked the door in, accidentally sending her flying across the room.

"Natalie!" Both boys exclaimed.

"Natalie, are you okay?" Kurama asked as he and Hiei raced towards her.

"I'm sorry, I…" Hiei trailed off as he saw tears glistening in her eyes. "Natalie…"

"I'm sorry." Natalie said as she sat up, "I shouldn't have thrown things at you guys."

Both boys suddenly put their arms around her. One thought ran through all three of their minds, _I don't want to hurt you._

(Author: sorry this chapter took so long to get up, my computer crashed earlier so I couldn't update.)


	6. Chapter 6

(Sorry this has taken so long to update. I did have all of the chapters done and I was going to post them the next day, but then my computer crashed, again. Aside from my computer crashing, I've been really busy what with finals and tournaments and school projects; and to top off, I'm drawing a comic for my fiancée and his best friend and attempting to draw my own comic. Other than those reasons, I haven't updated because my dad got a new game for the computer and he's constantly hogging the computer now. Gomen for not updating as much as I'd like to/hoped I could, please be patient with me. Thanks.) (There's a picture of Natalie on my bio page in the YuYu Hakusho section. Justclick "Natalie" in blue coloring.)

The next night, Kurama and Hiei waited in Natalie's living room while she got dressed. Kurama and Hiei had agreed earlier that morning to take Natalie someplace she had wanted to go. Although Natalie was embarrassed to admit it, she had wanted to go dancing. The truth was, back in America, Natalie loved to dance. The only time she didn't want to dance was when her sister Sandra was around, that was only because Sandra was a better dancer.  
Kurama was wearing a dark red long sleeved dress-shirt with white pants and nice black shoes. Hiei wore his black boots and black shirt he kept tucked into the dark blue jeans Kurama had given him which were held up by a black belt.

Hiei sighed and looked at Kurama, "How long does it take these human girls to dress?"

Kurama merely shrugged, he could tell Hiei was becoming impatient.

"Help yourself to whatever is in the fridge." Natalie called to the boys.

Natalie dug through her closet attempting to find an outfit she liked. _What am I so worried about? They've seen pretty much everything I own…_Natalie sighed, _what am I doing? I should just throw something on and be done with it…Then again I _do _want to look good, but I don't want to look desperate to impress them. Wait, why do I want to impress them? Ugh, this is beginning to be more of a pain in the butt then it needs to be._

Kurama sat on the couch as Hiei took a bite of a cookie Natalie had made. _Why _do _girls take so long to get dressed anyways? _He asked himself as he looked up at the ceiling.  
When Natalie finally emerged from her room, she made both of the boys stop and stare at her.

"What?" Natalie asked sheepishly as she rubbed her arm.

Natalie's black hair was pulled back into two short pigtails that were held by red bands and a star clip kept her bangs out of her face; she wore a black silver studded collar and a band around her wrist that matched it, a red tube top that was partly covered by a black leather jacket that's sleeves came down to her elbows, black pants that were kept up by a red belt, and black boots that made her an inch taller than she was.

"Natalie you…" Kurama began but trailed off as his eyes wandered down to Natalie's belly button.

Kurama blushed and turned his head to hide it. Hiei dropped his cookie. Both boys felt their heart begin to race.  
Hiei just stared at Natalie as he tried to make his heart slow down. _Why is my heart beating so fast? Is something wrong with me? _He looked away from Natalie for a moment and discretely took a deep breath to slow his heart down. When he calmed down he looked at her again only to have his heart race again. _What's wrong with me? I've seen her before without this happening, so why is it _now _that I can't even look at her without my hear pounding! _

Kurama took a deep breath before looking at Natalie again. _I've never seen Natalie like _this _before… I can't believe I've never noticed how cute she is. Wait, what am I saying, Natalie is a friend. _Just _a friend…right?_ Kurama mentally kicked himself, _Of course she's just a friend, she's not like the other girls, she doesn't fallow me like a puppy or suffocate me with unwanted love. Did I just say love?_

Kurama look a deep breath before getting up, "So, shall we?"

Natalie nodded as she grabbed her keys.

Kurama, Hiei, and Natalie walked down the neon-lit streets of Tokyo as Natalie lead the boys to a dance club she had seen when she first tried finding Kurama's house. Both boys stayed behind her trying to find an answer to the new questions that were stirring in their heads. The one question they shared, _Could Natalie be more than my friend?_

"Here it is." Natalie said, waking the two boys from their trance-like state.

Natalie was pointing at a black door that read Dance Revolution in neon pink letters. When they entered they were immediately stopped by a young woman who carried a small bottle of pink paint.

"Just a minute dear," The woman said as she stopped Natalie, "girls get their face painted tonight, no charge."

"Um…" Natalie just stared at the woman for a moment.

"Just a little one," The woman persisted, "I can make a small heart."

"Okay," Natalie said, she got the feeling the woman would have fallowed her around all night if she opposed.

When the woman had gone, Natalie, Kurama, and Hiei walked over to an empty table. The room was dark; the only lights were the swirling neon lights that matched the rhythm of the music and the flashing white strobe light. A sea of moving bodies was crowding the center of the room as music blared from the speakers. Natalie and Kurama knew Hiei didn't like crowds, so they all agreed to dance in a less crowded corner of the room.

A Latin-like rhythm filled the air as Natalie began to dance. She smiled, "Come on guys."

_**Over and over and over and over**_

_**Over and over I look in your eyes  
You are all I desire  
You have captured me.  
I want to hold you  
I want to be close to you  
I never want to let go.**_

_**I wish that this night would never end  
I need to know…**_

Kurama swayed slightly to the music until he caught the rhythm of it. He watched Natalie dancing, his heart pounding so hard he feared it would be heard over the blasting music. _Could I really love Natalie?_ He asked himself, _is that what this feeling would be? I don't know. I've been loved, but aside from mother, I don't know what it's like to return that love. All I know now is I don't want to leave Natalie, ever. _

Kurama wrapped his arms around Natalie's waist and began to dance with her.

_**Could I hold you for a life time?**_

_**Could I look into your eyes?  
Could I have this night to share this life together?**_

_**Could I hold you close beside me?  
Could I hold you for all times?  
Could I…  
Could I have this kiss forever?**_

Hiei wasn't completely sure how to dance to human music. He watched Kurama and tried to mimic him. This was rather difficult considering he had more things on his mind then how to dance. _Could Natalie be more than my friend? Sure she would make a great companion for any… _The thought of Natalie being with another man make Hiei feel terrible. The very thought made Hiei feel like someone had just stabbed him in the heart and gut at the same time.

_**Could I…  
Could I have this kiss forever?**_

_**Over and over  
Over and over I've dreamed of this night.  
Now you're here by my side  
You are next to me.  
And I want to hold you  
And touch you and taste you **_

_**And make you want no one but me.**_

Natalie grabbed Hiei's hand and pulled him closer to her and Kurama so all three of them were dancing together. Natalie's fingers interlaced with Hiei's as all three of them moved together. _Man,_ Natalie thought, _I'd be lucky if I could ever find a guy like Kurama or Hiei to date. Their both so caring and…and…It's hard enough not falling for both of them. Part of me thinks I shouldn't fall for them but then another part thinks…_

_**I wish that this kiss could never end.**_

_**Oh baby please…**_

_**I don't want any night to go by**_

_**Without you by my side**_

_**I just want to count my days  
Spent being next to you**_

_**Lived for just loving you  
Hey baby, Oh by the way...**_

_**Could I…**_

Kurama's arms tightened slightly around Natalie's waist as he leaned closer to her, almost resting his head on her shoulder. Hiei took his hands from Natalie's and placed them on her hips as his stepped closer to her. He was close enough to her their foreheads almost touched. With her boots on, Natalie was the same height as Hiei. Natalie kept one arm by her waist and rested her smaller hand on Kurama's larger one while her other arm wrapped around Hiei's neck.

The three of them continued to dance as all three of their hearts pounded like mad.

_**Could I hold you for a life time?**_

_**Could I look into your eyes?  
Could I have this night to share this life together?**_

_**Could I hold you close beside me?  
I just want to hold you  
Could I…  
Could I have this kiss forever?**_

_**Could I…  
Could I have this kiss forever?**_

Natalie shut her eyes and imagined this event playing in her head. She engraved this moment into her memory. Natalie's heart pounded faster and faster as she buried the urge to kiss both Hiei and Kurama. Then her deepest thought echoed in her mind, _I think I love you._

_**Could I have this kiss forever?**_

Kurama wondered in the back of his mind if Natalie could feel how fast and hard his heart was beating. Kurama felt himself losing his control of the growing urge to kiss Natalie. _Natalie,_ _do you know how hard it is not to fall in love with you right now? _Kurama mentally asked as he kissed her right cheek.

_**Could I have this kiss forever?**_

Hiei kissed her left cheek as he made a secret pled, _Natalie, if I _do _fall for you please, just let me love you. Even if it's no longer then a minute, just love me back. _Hiei's heart began to beat wildly in his chest.

_**Could I…**_

Natalie felt herself blush as she felt boys' lips against her cheeks. She knew this moment would remain in her memories forever.

_**  
Could I have this kiss forever?**_


	7. Chapter 7

Natalie's heart began to beat uncontrollably as her breath quickened. Her emotions seemed to run wildly through her, clouding all her thoughts.  
"Are you alright?" Hiei asked over the music, feeling her breath speeding up as it touched his face.  
"Natalie?" Kurama looked at her with a concerned look on his face.  
"I just need some air!" Natalie said quickly as she ran passed the two of them.  
She ran to the door and stood in the cool air as she tried to regain her normal breathing. _Whats_ _wrong with me?_ She asked herself _if I fall for them I'll just end up smashing my heart. That's…That's how it always goes. I'm not in love, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not! I'll just end up wrecking a perfectly good friend ship. That or it will just be way too awkward for one of them. _Natalie sighed. _Even if I do end up falling for one of them... it wouldn't last. I'd be going back to America soon… _Natalie leaned against the building as she looked up at the sky.

"What'd we do?" Hiei asked out loud as him and Kurama walked to the door.  
"I'm not sure." Kurama replied.  
Both of them had realized the other had given Natalie a kiss on the opposite cheek and were feeling a bit awkward about it.  
"Hiei…" Kurama trailed off.  
"…What?" Hiei asked, stopping in front of the door.  
"…Why did you kiss Natalie?" He asked as he looked at his friend.  
Hiei looked at Kurama for a moment, "Why did you?"  
At that moment, both boys realized they had the same feelings for Natalie. They looked away from each other, an awkward feeling washing over them.  
At that moment Natalie opened the door and saw them both. That split moment seemed to last for hours.

"Why don't we go get some ice cream?" Kurama said, breaking the silence.  
Natalie smiled, "That sounds good."  
Hiei secretly steamed; _we just established how we both feel about Natalie, is he trying to win her affection now? _He shook the thought from his mind, _no, we may have the same feelings for her, but he wouldn't do something that underhanded. _

The three of them walked until they came across a small ice cream shop. Hiei noticed a guy across the street open a door for a girl, the girl smiled and gave the guy a kiss on the cheek. _Do human girls really want guys to open doors for them? _He figured it was worth a shot.  
Unaware Kurama was reaching for the door Hiei grabbed the handle and pulled the door open for Natalie, accidentally hitting Kurama in the face without realizing it. Natalie smiled at Hiei, "Thanks." She was unaware the door had hit Kurama in the face.  
_Did Hiei…_Kurama quickly brushed the thought from his mind before it could finish, _Hiei would never do something like that._

When the three of them entered the building they saw Yusuke and Kuwabara with Natalie's sister Sandra. Both boys looked like they were annoyed to no end.

"Natalie!" Sandra cried as she walked over to her little sister.  
"Dear god no…" Natalie muttered.  
"Kurama! Over here!" Yusuke waved when he realized it was Kurama with Natalie.  
"Hey, the midget came too." Kuwabara added when he saw Hiei.  
Hiei shot a death glare at Kuwabara as he stayed next to Natalie while Kurama walked over to the two boys.

"Help us!" Yusuke hissed when Kurama was in earshot, "This crazy girl won't leave us alone! She's already got me in hot water with Keiko."  
"Ironically," Kurama said, "She's Natalie's sister."  
"Who's Natalie?" asked Yusuke, looking over Kurama's shoulder.  
Yusuke saw Sandra starting to flirt with Hiei as she hung on Natalie, who looked like she was considering if anyone would notice her killing the blonde girl hanging around her neck.

"Here," Kuwabara said, handing Kurama a root beer float, "That crazy girl made me order her this then when I tried to give it to her she said something about 'carbs' and wouldn't take it."

"Oh, um, thank you?" Kurama said, a bit unsure.  
Yusuke looked at Kurama, then at Natalie, then back to Kurama, "When did you get a girlfriend?"

Kurama spit some of the root beer back into the glass as he blushed like mad, "Sh-she's not my…" Kurama trailed off as he stared at Natalie.

"Will you get off of me?" Natalie growled at Sandra.

"Aw, what's the matter Natty?" Sandra asked, "Are you guys on a date?"

Natalie and Hiei blushed. "What do you care?" Natalie barked.

"Well if he's not taken…" Sandra said as she draped her arms around Hiei.

A look of disgust crossed Hiei's face as he pushed her away. "I don't know where you got the idea I liked you," Hiei said, "but I don't."

"You have horrible taste in men Natalie." Sandra said as she glared at Hiei.

"Like you should talk," Natalie snapped, "you go through more guys than you do pads."

Hiei blinked, Natalie's insult going over his head. Sandra gasped and slapped the back of her hand across Natalie's face, "You bitch!"

Natalie clutched her fist as she looked at her sister, "Stupid whore!" At that point, Natalie slammed her fist into her sister's face, sending her straight to the floor.

"Natalie!" Kurama shouted as he ran over to her, grabbing one arm as Hiei grabbed the other.

"Let me go!" Natalie barked.

"Calm down." Hiei said trying to restrain her.

Natalie jerked her arms away from the boys and stared at her sister, "…Say anything like that again and I'll wipe the floor with your head you ho."

Natalie was shaking with rage now. Her mind seemed to blank as she turned and ran out of the ice cream shop.

"Natalie!" Hiei and Kurama shouted as they began to chase her.

When the boys got outside, they saw Natalie on the ground in the street, paralyzed with fear. She had tripped as she was crossing the street and now her eyes widened as the headlights of a semi truck came closer and closer. Hiei and Kurama froze for a moment; there worst fear about to come true.

The semi's horn echoed as the sound of screeching tires screamed through the night air.


	8. Chapter 8

The semi swerved and screeched to a halt. Kurama dropped to his knees, shaking violently as Yusuke and Kuwabara ran out. Kurama retched.

"Kurama!" Yusuke exclaimed, "What just happened?"

Kurama was on all fours now. He stared at the ground as he continued to shake. _I couldn't do anything. _He thought, _I… I froze… I…I've never felt this helpless…_Tears began to hit the pavement as he shut his eyes, muttering, "Natalie… I'm so sorry…"

On the roof of the building across the street, Hiei held the weeping Natalie in his arms. Hiei held her close as the cool wind rolled over them.

"Hiei…" Natalie cried, "I was so scared."

"Shh…" Hiei cooed as he sat both himself and Natalie down on the roof, "as long as I'm around Natalie…"

He trailed off as one hand ran through Natalie's hair. Natalie stayed on his lap as she clung to him. She sobbed harder, the head lights flashing in her mind again. Hiei gently kissed her forehead. _I'll always protect you. _He mentally promised, _until my dieing breath Natalie… Nothing bad will ever happen to you. _

Kurama looked up to the roof. _Thank you Hiei…_He thought, _I don't know what I'd have done if she was gone… _

"Kurama?" Yusuke looked at him with concern, "Are you alright?"

"He doesn't look so good." Kuwabara stated.

"I'm sorry…" Kurama muttered, getting up to his feet, "I just…"

He looked up and saw Hiei kiss Natalie's head. A sharp pain stabbed his heart, _would Hiei protect her better than I can..?_

Natalie's crying slowed down as she began to breathe normal again. Hiei stared at her for a moment.

"Do you want me to take you home?" He asked her.

Natalie nodded, "I don't feel so good…"

The shock was beginning to set in.

"Alright." Hiei said.

He thought for a moment before getting up. He set her down on her feet and turned his back to her, putting his arms out.

"Climb on." He said, looking back at her.

Natalie felt light headed, but she did as Hiei said. He crouched down a little, making it easier for her to climb onto his back.

Kurama watched Natalie climb onto Hiei's back. _He's going to take her home…_

"Kurama?" Yusuke waved a hand in front of Kurama's face, "Anyone home?"

"Huh?" Kurama looked at him, "Oh… Sorry Yusuke."

"Maybe you should go home." Kuwabara said as he folded his arms, "Some sleep may be good for you."

Kurama merely nodded and walked away. Yusuke fallowed after him.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow Kuwabara." He called as he caught up to Kurama.

Kuwabara nodded, "See ya… Get some sleep Kurama."

Yusuke and Kurama walked down the street in silence.

Once Natalie was on Hiei's back, he began to look for an easy and slow way down. Natalie rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks Hiei…" She muttered.

He looked back at her and a small, soft smile crossed his face, "Of coarse…"

He found the fire escape and slowly made his way down the latter.

"So…" Yusuke said, keeping his eyes towards the street, "Who is she?"

"Hm?" Kurama looked at him.

"That girl." Yusuke said, giving Kurama a sideways glance, "Who is she?"

Kurama looked down.

"Come on…" Yusuke said as they walked, "I've never seen you or Hiei get so worked up over some one. Well, except Hiei's a bit touchy when it comes to Yukina, but that's beside the point."

"Her name is Natalie. Natalie Bishop." Kurama said as he placed his hands in his pockets.

Once more, it was quiet as they walked down a suburban street.

"So how do you know her?" Yusuke asked.

"She's a foreign exchange student from America." Kurama replied.

"America huh?" Yusuke looked at him, "Anything else?"

"She's…" Kurama was at a loss for words.

"She's what?" Yusuke said with a smirk, "Don't make me turn this into twenty questions Kurama."

Kurama sighed, "There's no words to describe Natalie-chan."

"Really?" Yusuke chuckled, "Am I wrong, or does it sound like you've finally gotten a crush on some one."

Kurama didn't answer. _Is this really just a crush?_ He thought.

"She knows about Makai." He finally said.

"What!" Yusuke stopped in his tracks.

"She knows Hiei and I are demons as well." He continued, stopping a few feet in front of Yusuke, "And you know what?"

Yusuke stared at Kurama as he turned around.

"She doesn't care." Kurama said, a weak smile spreading across his face, "She's seen Hiei's demon form, and she knows about our world and spirit world. She doesn't care Yusuke."

Hiei walked up the stairs of Natalie's apartment, still carrying the now sleeping Natalie on his back. He got up to the door and carefully felt the top of the door frame for the spare key Natalie told him and Kurama about. He felt the cold metal brush his finger tips as he knocked it off the frame. He grumbled quietly, being careful not to wake—or drop—Natalie. The key slid into the lock quietly as he unlocked the door.

Once inside, he pocketed the key, gently kicking the door shut and locking it once more. He wandered to Natalie's room. Walking up to the bed, he pulled the covers back and carefully set Natalie down. Natalie softly flopped across her bed as Hiei began to carefully pull her shoes off. He slipped her feet under the blankets and carefully pulled her jacket off before laying her down once more. He pulled the covers up on her as he sat down by her side.

He stared at her face. She looked so calm, so peaceful… _What am I doing?_ Hiei asked himself, _why am I letting myself get so attached to her? _

Natalie opened her mouth in a small yawn as curled up under the covers, her face rubbed against her pillow. Hiei's heart skipped a beat as he felt her warm breath on his face. His eye's softened. He leaned closer, his heart beating faster. His lips gently met Natalie's lips. Her lips were soft and warm against his. He felt his blood begin to rush as his heart pounded faster. His eyes shut as his tongue began to trace the small opening in Natalie's mouth. Hiei jerked away suddenly, realizing what he was doing.

Cold water rushed from the faucet of the kitchen sink as Hiei splashed his face. He took deep breaths, attempting to calm himself down.

"What am I doing?" Hiei muttered as he looked at his reflection.

Then he noticed his reflection wasn't the only one in the mirror. He spun around to see a groggy Natalie staring at him.

"Hiei?" Natalie muttered as she rubbed one of her eyes.

Hiei's heart began to pound again. His voice caught in his throat as Natalie walked towards him.

"I need a shower…" She muttered as she walked passed him.

Hiei stared at her as she turned the water on. _Is she really awake?_ He wondered. Natalie's back was still turned to Hiei as she pulled her shirt off. Hiei's eyes widened as his heart began to beat uncontrollably.

"Does Koenma know about this?" Yusuke asked as he leaned against the tree in Kurama's front yard.

Kurama had explained everything to Yusuke. From the time Natalie first discovered Makai, to nearly getting hit by the semi tonight.

"Not yet." Kurama said as he sat on a tree root.

"Actually I do." Koenma said as he appeared in front of the two boys.

"Koenma…" Kurama muttered.

"Listen," Koenma said as he floated in front of Kurama, "I know you care about this girl, so I'll just cut to the chase."

"What's wrong?" Yusuke asked, noticing Koenma's serious tone.

"What's wrong is the fact that no humans are supposed to know about spirit world. So Kurama, I'm having you give her a choice."

"A choice?" Kurama stared at the baby-looking man in front of him.

"Yes," Koenma said, "since you and Hiei have trained her to use her spirit energy, she can either become a spirit detective or we'll have to erase her memories."

"What do you mean?" Kurama asked.

"Well, she can come and work for me at spirit world," Koenma replied, "or we'll have to erase her memories. Including the memories of when you all met."

"But…" Kurama felt like a cannonball had hit his gut, "That would mean… She wouldn't know me anymore. Or Hiei… She wouldn't even remember the day we first met?"

"I'm afraid so Kurama." Koenma looked up at the red head, "If we erase her memory you'll just be Shuichi Minamino to her again."

Okay sorry this has taken so long, I've been busy with my senior project, so since I'm done with the writing part I hope I'll be able to write more. Thanks for being patient!


	9. Chapter 9

The bathroom water roared as Hiei stared at the living room ceiling from the coach. _Why am I feeling this?_ Hiei asked himself, _why does my gut tighten when I think of her? _

There was a knock at the door that made Hiei jump. He looked at the door, wondering who would be here at this time of night.

"Natalie?" Kurama's voice came through the door, "Hiei?"

Hiei got up and opened the door. Standing in front of him was a sorrowful Kurama. Kurama panted for breath as he held the door way.

"Where is Natalie?" He asked as he came in.

"..The shower…" Hiei said, looking away, "What's wrong?"

Kurama sunk onto the coach, "Natalie… She may forget us…"

"What?" Hiei shut the door behind him, "What are you talking about?"

"Koenma's giving her a choice." Kurama said as he buried his face in his hands, "Either she can work for him as a spirit detective, or he'll have to erase her memory."

"What do you mean?" Hiei asked as he sat down at the other end of the coach.

"She'll forget us." Kurama replied, "If she doesn't become a spirit detective she will forget ever meaning us."

Hiei stared at Kurama in disbelief, "Are you sure?"

"It's Koenma's orders." Kurama looked up at Hiei, "What if she decides to get her memory erased?"

"She… She wouldn't." Hiei muttered as he looked down.

Both boys sat in silence until Natalie emerged from the bathroom. She came out in a baggy white tee shirt and plaid shorts, unaware Hiei and Kurama were there. She stopped in her tracks when she saw them.

"What are you guys still doing here?" She asked as she walked towards them.

"Natalie…" Kurama stood up, "We need to talk."

Natalie froze, "What's wrong?"

Silence filled the room as the two demons stared at the human girl with worried looks.

"What's going on?" Natalie asked, beginning to panic.

"Natalie," Kurama looked her in the eyes, "You remember when I explained about spirit world, correct?"

"Yeah…" She looked from Kurama to Hiei, "What about it?"

"Do you remember me mentioning a man named Koenma?" Kurama asked.

"The toddler guy?" Natalie looked confused, "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Well," Kurama looked from Hiei to Natalie, "He gave me an offer tonight."

Natalie stared at the two boys, unsure of where this was going.

"The offer," Kurama went on, "is that you either can become a spirit detective or he'll erase us from your memory."

"Oh is that it?" Natalie sighed with relief.

Kurama and Hiei stared at her in a bit of shock.

"What?" Natalie looked at the two of them, "From the way you guys looked I thought something bad had happened."

"What?" Kurama and Hiei said out of unison.

"Do you guys honestly think I'd want to forget you?" Natalie half chuckled, "I mean, come on, you two are my only friends. Why would I _want_ to forget you?"

Both boys stared at her, half surprised and half disbelieving.

Natalie smiled, "Tell that Koenma guy I'll take anything he can throw at me. I'm not going to forget you guys without a fight."

Kurama threw his arms around Natalie, catching her off guard. Hiei stood up, a small, unnoticeable smile on his face. Natalie hugged Kurama then pulled away. She walked to Hiei and hugged him too. Hiei gently hugged her back. Both boys were relieved at her answer.

"Why don't I go make us a snack or something?" Natalie smiled as she walked off into the kitchen.

Koenma watched the scene from the screen in his office. A small smile was hidden behind the blue pacifier. _Maybe this girl is strong than I give her credit for... _He thought.

"Sir..?" Ogre said from behind the tall chair, "What are you up to?"

"Why do you think I'm up to something Ogre?" Koenma looked up at him.

"Well…" Ogre looked down at him, "This wouldn't be a scheme to replace Yusuke would it?"

"What?" Koenma's eyes widened, "Why in the world do you think I'd do that?"

"Well there was that time you tried replacing him with that Kuwabara boy." Ogre began counting off his fingers, "Then you really never have forgiven him for calling you a toddler—"

"I am not a toddler!" Koenma shouted, making Ogre jump.

Koenma slumped down in his chair, pouting as he contemplated things.

"Sir..?" Ogre looked over the chair.

"Come Ogre," Koenma said as he hopped out of the chair, "read me a bed time story before I go to sleep."

"Yes sir." Ogre said with a sweat drop as he turned the monitor off.

Natalie brought a bowl of popcorn out of the kitchen and sat on the floor with Kurama and Hiei. The atmosphere in the room seemed to lighten up quiet a bit. Natalie smiled at both the boys as she popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth.

"So…" She said as she grabbed a handful of popcorn, "What exactly does a spirit detective do?"

"Well…" Kurama said, helping himself to the popcorn, "Basically they protect the human world."

Natalie thought for a moment, "What are we protecting it from?"

Hiei and Kurama looked at each other for a moment. Hiei, who seemed to take a liking towards popcorn, shoved another handful into his mouth, showing he didn't want to answer.

"We're protecting it from demons." Kurama explained.

"Aren't you guy's demons though?" Natalie looked at him with a confused expression.

"Yes," Kurama said, "But not all demons are like us."

"I see…" Natalie said as she stared at the ceiling.

The memory of the small green demon with purple eyes flashed in her mind. She started laughing as she remembered how she met Kurama and Hiei in Makai. Hiei froze, another handful of popcorn half way to his mouth, as Kurama stared blankly at her. Natalie covered her mouth as she held her stomach. Both boys looked at each other then to Natalie.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Natalie snickered, "I was just thinking of when we first met in Makai."

Kurama thought for a moment. He remembered when he first saw her, her uniform was ripped and she looked extremely annoyed. There was a small unconscious demon lying next to her. She had gone through all that trouble, all just to give him a book back. And all he could think to say was "Oh, um… thank you?" Kurama began to laugh too.

Hiei was staring at the popcorn bowl He remembered how fiery she was about wanting an explanation about Makai. And when he trapped her against the wall while he was in his demon form… Natalie just looked him in the eyes and said "Am I supposed to be scarred?" She seemed so fiery and fearless then. Hiei began to laugh as he thought about how spunky she was then and still was now.

The three of them were sprawled on the floor by the time they had all finished laughing. Natalie smiled as she thought of all that had happened between them.

"I'll be right back." She said as she got up.

Both the boys watched the ceiling with content smiles on their faces. Then suddenly, everything went black. Natalie laughed.

"There you go." She had thrown a blanket on both the boys.

She sat down with her own blanket. Both boys smiled at her.

"Why don't we watch a movie?" She suggested as she got up and looked at the movies she had, "How bout The Grudge?"

"What's that?" Hiei asked as he sat up.

"It's an awesome horror movie." She grinned.

"Why not..?" Kurama sat up too, "I've been wondering how that one is."

Natalie put the movie in and hit the play button. She shut off the lights before she sat in between Kurama and Hiei.

The movie began to play, but before it had ended, the three of them had fallen asleep.


	10. I'm not dead, I swear

Natalie, Hiei, and Kurama stood impatiently behind the Author as the author typed away at the computer.

"I'm so sorry I haven't updated for a little more than a year now." The author typed, "I'm aware that many of you may not be interested in the story anymore, but there has been a lot of… issues in the past year that have kept me from writing. I'm not a freshman in college so hopefully while I'm waiting for class to start, I can write the rest of the story. Again, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to it, but I'll be starting to work on the next chapter later tonight. Sorry about all this!"

Natalie sighed in frustration, "I doubt anyone's reading this anymore."

Kurama and Hiei nodded in agreement.


End file.
